Sainsbury poised for long-awaited surgery

Socceroos defender Trent Sainsbury will likely spend the Chinese off-season in Australia recovering from surgery he'd delayed until the end of the World Cup qualifying campaign.

The Jiangsu Suning centre-back was again a cool head on Wednesday night in Australia's defence, keeping Honduras dangerman Anthony Lozano quiet in the 3-1 victory that sealed their spot at Russia 2018.

But after the match, Sainsbury - who had battled injury in recent months - revealed he would put off his return to Asia to undergo a planned clean-up operation.